2014 was an exciting year for Gearbox! We celebrated our 15th anniversary as a studio, announced our first new game for next-gen consoles, saw the release of a brand new Borderlands game and the final DLC for Borderlands 2, collaborated on a Telltale adventure game set inside the Borderlands universe, plus made an incredibly cool collector’s edition for Homeworld: Remastered Collection.

It’s certainly been busy, but it’s all been a fantastic ride, and we couldn’t be more excited about heading into 2015. Before we move ahead to the new year, let’s take a quick look back at all of the things that made this year so fantastic.

We’re hope you’re enjoying the winter holidays with your family and that you’ll also enjoy this festive round of up Borderlands fan art! This round up features a Zer0 by nytrinhia, Athena cosplay by too-much-cosplay, and Maya and Krieg by teamoon-the-treemoon!

As icing on the lake, give this Mercenary Day earworm by CameraLizard a listen. Happy Holidays!

Whether you already owned the games or received them as a gift this year, here are SHiFT codes to receive 10 Golden Keys in Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, plus an additional set of SHiFT codes to receive 10 Golden Keys in Borderlands 2.

Happy Mercenary Day! Much like the citizens of Pandora, folks on Elpis love to take time every year celebrate the holiday season with generosity, giving, and murder. From today until January 5th, you’ll be able to celebrate right along with them in a brand new in-game event available for free to all players.

You’ll find some “merry” enemies in the mood for a little holiday cheer over at the R & D Facility and Pity’s Fall, plus a terrifying-but-celebratory new Kraggon in Serenity’s Waste named Odjurymir that will give you a chance of getting a new weapon if you manage to defeat it.

On top of that, the inhabitants of Elpis have dressed up the place with a little bit of holiday flair, so keep an eye out for decorations that may even have a few goodies inside (because ‘tis the season). In the spirit of giving, all ammo is also 25% cheaper for the entirety of the event. Score!

That's where you come in! Now that we've launched Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, it's time to find out the community's new favorite characters. Let us know who you think we should focus our future efforts on in this Borderlands Character Survey!

It’s almost time for everybody’s fifth or sixth favorite late December holiday, Mercenary Day! This year, the celebration comes to Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel with a free limited time in-game event that will offer some celebratory enemies, special drops, and some very interesting perks.

We’ll have all the details (including specific dates) in a follow-up post very soon, so stay tuned for more info. Until then, take a few sips of your favorite non-denominational holiday drink and relax. You’ve earned it.

The first episode of Telltale's Tales from the Borderlands launched in November to critical acclaim, and now you can play it on the go!

Following last week's iOS launch, episode one of Tales is now also available on Android. To celebrate, Telltale has released a new trailer that you can watch above, featuring opinions from both critics and fans about episode one.

Today’s a big day for Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel! As we previously announced, a new downloadable add-on is available starting today on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Steam, along with a new update that brings a brand new playthrough and a new mission that provides some backstory for Telltale’s Tales from the Borderlands.

You can expect Ultimate Vault Hunter Upgrade Pack: The Holodome Onslaught to be available today (December 16) in your territory on all platforms by the end of the day. The only exception to that will be PlayStation 3 players outside of North America, who can expect the add-on pack to be available on 12/17 as soon as the PlayStation Store updates in your territory.

In case you missed any of the news, here’s a recap of everything Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel players have to look forward to starting today:

Ultimate Vault Hunter Upgrade Pack: The Holodome Onslaught

This is the second batch of add-on content for Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, and features all-new narrative content including veteran Vault Hunters Gaige and Axton, who recently returned to the Crimson Raiders HQ. While they were gone on a mission, they missed out on the events of Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel and ask Athena to recount the story. Since they’re not the most patient badass Vault Hunters on Pandora, they just want an abbreviated version – only the juicy, violent stuff.

As Athena tells the tale, you’ll play through The Holodome Onslaught, a new challenge arena where you’ll fight wave after wave of foes, including some of The Pre-Sequel’s most memorable badasses as well as several new enemies. You’ll also be able to earn new weapons, new class mods, and some radical new heads and skins.

As bonus content, this add-on pack also includes the Ultimate Vault Hunter Upgrade Pack, which raises the level cap to 60, giving each of your characters the ability to earn 10 new levels and skill points!

If you’ve already picked up the Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel Season Pass, the Ultimate Vault Hunter Upgrade Pack: The Holodome Onslaught is included, but for players that haven’t, the pack will also be sold on its own for $9.99.

Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode

After you’ve downloaded the new Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel update, a new playthrough called Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode will be unlocked for any character once they have completed the main story missions in True Vault Hunter Mode and reached level 50. In UVHM, players can reset their mission progress at any time from the main menu in order to replay multiple times.

Additionally, enemies and bosses will scale according to your current level. If you’re playing with others, enemies scale to the highest-level player in the party. Here are the changes you can expect in UVHM:

Enemies are now more likely to drop ammo, plus enemies and chests will give you better gear than in other playthroughs

Elemental weapons will also be more effective, as will gear with elemental resistance

Handsome AI Mission

Once you’ve downloaded the newest update for The Pre-Sequel, head to the Hyperion Hub of Heroism and talk to Nakayama to receive the Handsome AI mission, a quick errand that sheds some light on Nakayama’s plans to immortalize everybody’s favorite Hyperion CEO using high-tech artificial intelligence that could change things on Pandora!

For those of you who have played Tales from the Borderlands (or watched the trailer), this idea may sound familiar. It’s safe to say you’ll understand a fair bit more about Nakayama’s tech once you’ve played through the mission.

Full Update Patch Notes

Beyond everything above, we’ve also made some changes that are included in the latest update. Here are the full patch notes:

The new Gearbox Software forums have officially entered open beta! Click here to head over and take the new platform for a test drive.

The new forum system will be continuously evolving, so while you're there, don't forget to leave us some feedback in this thread. The forums are currently scheduled to be officially transitioned to the new platform in mid-to-late January.

Game development is a joint effort. While every member of the team makes important individual contributions, the game ultimately comes together as a cohesive work thanks to all of their efforts combined. Still, sometimes developers get a chance to put their own personal stamp on an aspect of the game, or include a small touch that means something specific to them.

In Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, many developers took the time to include a nod to a friend, family member, or even sports team that means something to them. Here are a few stories from developers about personal touches they’ve included.

The next major update for Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel is coming very soon. This update will add support for the release of the second downloadable add-on pack, Ultimate Vault Hunter Upgrade Pack: The Holodome Onslaught, and several bug fixes. Depending on your platform, you may receive the update at one of a few different times, so below is a list of when you can expect to see the newest update:

Xbox 360: Released Friday, December 12 - NEW TIME

PlayStation 3: Tuesday, December 16

Steam: Tuesday, December 16

As we announced last week, December 16th will also bring the release of Ultimate Vault Hunter Upgrade Pack: The Holodome Onslaught. Here’s when that DLC will be available in each territory:

Xbox 360: Tuesday, December 16

Steam: Tuesday, December 16

PlayStation 3: Tuesday, December 16 (North America)

For PlayStation 3 players outside of North America, the add-on pack will be available on 12/17 as soon as the PlayStation Store updates in your territory. Xbox 360 users will also be prompted to download a new Compatability Pack in the coming days.

Full patch notes detailing what you can expect in the update will be posted here when available (look for the entry dated December 11):

As we previously announced, this update will also include a third playthrough for Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode. You can read all of the details about that playthrough right here.

We’ve already told you that December 16th will bring new DLC and a new playthrough to Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, but it’ll also bring the release of another new surprise: a brand new mission that offers some insight into Tales from the Borderlands!

Once you’ve downloaded the newest update for The Pre-Sequel, head to the Hyperion Hub of Heroism and talk to Nakayama to receive the Handsome AI mission, a quick errand that sheds some light on Nakayama’s plans to immortalize everybody’s favorite Hyperion CEO using high-tech artificial intelligence that could change things on Pandora!

For those of you who have played Tales from the Borderlands (or watched the trailer above), this idea may sound familiar. It’s safe to say you’ll understand a fair bit more about Nakayama’s tech once you’ve played through the mission.

We’ll have full patch notes for the newest Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel update in the days to come, and be sure to read about Ultimate Vault Hunter mode if you haven’t already!

As we announced last week, a new playthrough is coming to Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel as a free update for all players! Xbox 360 players can expect to see the update on December 11th, while PlayStation 3 and Steam players will receive it on December 16th.

After you’ve downloaded the update, Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode will be unlocked for any character once they have completed the main story missions in True Vault Hunter Mode and reached level 50. In UVHM, players can reset their mission progress at any time from the main menu in order to replay multiple times.

Additionally, enemies and bosses will scale according to your current level. If you’re playing with others, enemies scale to the highest-level player in the party. Here are the changes you can expect in UVHM:

Enemies are now more likely to drop ammo, plus enemies and chests will give you better gear than in other playthroughs

Elemental weapons will also be more effective, as will gear with elemental resistance

If you want to chat about Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode with the community, be sure to check out this thread on our forums, which also includes some insight from the developers about how the playthrough has been balanced.

We hope you enjoy the new playthrough! In case you missed the news, you can also look forward to Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel’s second downloadable add-on, Ultimate Vault Hunter Upgrade Pack: The Holodome Onslaught, on December 16th in North America and December 17th internationally, which raises the level cap to 60 and adds a new challenge arena with new enemies, new weapons, new class mods, and new customization options.

We’re happy to announce that Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel’s second batch of add-on content, the Ultimate Vault Hunter Upgrade Pack: The Holodome Onslaught, is coming to PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Steam on December 16th alongside a free update that adds a third playthrough for everyone enjoying the game!

This add-on pack features all-new narrative content including veteran Vault Hunters Gaige and Axton, who recently returned to the Crimson Raiders HQ. While they were gone on a mission, they missed out on the events of Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel and ask Athena to recount the story. Since they’re not the most patient badass Vault Hunters on Pandora, they just want an abbreviated version – only the juicy, violent stuff.

As Athena tells the tale, you’ll play through The Holodome Onslaught, a new challenge arena where you’ll fight wave after wave of foes, including some of The Pre-Sequel’s most memorable badasses as well as several new enemies. You’ll also be able to earn new weapons, new class mods, and some radical new heads and skins.

As bonus content, this add-on pack also includes the Ultimate Vault Hunter Upgrade Pack, which raises the level cap to 60, giving each of your characters the ability to earn 10 new levels and skill points!

If you’ve already picked up the Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel Season Pass, the Ultimate Vault Hunter Upgrade Pack: The Holodome Onslaught is included, but for players that haven’t, the pack will also be sold on its own for $9.99. The Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel Season Pass is available for $29.99 and grants access to all four add-on content packs – a $39.96 value! – as they become available on Xbox Live, PSN, Windows PC, Mac and Linux. It also includes the previously-released Handsome Jack Doppelganger Pack. While each add-on content pack will be available for sale individually, the Season Pass offers all four packs for just about the price of three!

Additionally, all Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel players will receive a free update alongside Holodome that adds a third playthrough, Ultimate Vault Hunter mode, which is more difficult and adds the ability to reset campaign progress at any time, as well as enemies scaling up to your current level. We’ll have more details about the content and timing (along with full patch notes) in the coming days.

Since Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel launched on October 14th, the teams at Gearbox and 2K Australia have continued to work hard on supporting the game with post-launch content. Current plans for future content are to include one more playable character as well as a new campaign, so look out for more updates in the months ahead.